As an ever increasing number of users rely on multiple electronic and computing devices such as smart phones, portable data assistants, electronic book readers, personal media players, and the like, there are an increasing number of applications and an increasing distribution of data that must be managed by the average user. Further complicating the issue is the fact that a typical user likely upgrades at least one of these devices every other year, if not every year. Porting all necessary information between existing devices or to a new device is not a straightforward process.
For example, data is often stored in proprietary data formats, or according to specific protocols, which can differ between devices. Further, the data is often stored in many different locations on a device, which might be associated with specific applications. A user might have to go through various export routines and synchronization processes, and still might not be able to locate and copy all the appropriate data. Further, the user might not know how to export data from an application on one type of device to an application on another type of device. If the user wishes to use the same application on a new or different device, the user typically has to repurchase that application for that specific device, and ensure that the purchased version is appropriate for the intended device. Various synchronization applications exist, but these are typically limited to certain types of devices and/or applications.
Also, there often is no easy way for these and other devices to communicate. A user might want to share information between multiple devices, but those devices might not have a common and/or established communication channel through which to share that information. Further, a user might want to be able to control aspects of one device interacting with another device, but unless those devices are previously configured and/or designed to work together, there may be no convenient way to enable those devices to communicate and/or share information as desired.